I-Bankers Grumbling About Google's IPO Demands

Wall Street

from the yeah,-like-that-wasn't-expected dept

Ever since Google first hinted that they might do a Dutch Auction for their IPO, we noted that investment bankers would do anything to try to stop it so that they could rake in their traditional fees, while rewarding their friends. However, Google’s popularity has ensured that not only could they force through a Dutch Auction IPO, but they could still convince just about every major I-bank to take part. While Merrill Lynch finally decided to take a stand and drop out of the syndicate, others are getting by via a plan to move forward with the Dutch Auction publicly while grumbling anonymously about how little they’re going to make off the whole ordeal. As you might imagine, it makes sense to toss a bit of skepticism towards the bankers’ complaints. If they really weren’t going to make any money, they should just drop out. However, complaining that the computer upgrades they need to take part are just too expensive is a ridiculous complaint designed to do more damage to this IPO in an attempt to scare other startups away from thinking about a Dutch Auction themselves. If anything, that might be the biggest issue. By pissing off so many banks, the banks may do their best to try to harm the IPO, just to ward off other companies who want to change the IPO-business model for underwriters.